The 2012-13 Voodoo Five Awards: Part 1

Now that USF's athletic season has officially drawn to a close with the end of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships, it's time to look back on the 2012-13 season with the Voodoo Five Awards. We have our traditional set of ten categories, and each staff writer has submitted their votes. Here we go.

BEST TEAM

JAMIE: Another year in which no one made it past the second round of the NCAAs, or out of a regional. But women's basketball came the closest, beating Texas Tech on its home floor and making a death-defying comeback against California before falling in overtime. They fought hard to the very end, and I had more fun watching them than any other USF team this year.

COLLIN: Women's basketball. First NCAA win ever, exciting brand of ball, and that comeback against Cal was pretty ridiculous.

GARY: Women's basketball. That team really came together this season. And it was great to see freshmen like Alisia Jenkins and Courtney Williams contributing in the big games along with all the upperclassmen.

RYAN: Give me women's basketball over softball. They were a ton of fun to watch down the stretch.

ANDREW: Women's basketball. The toughest thing to do in college sports is win on the road in the NCAAs, and this team did it at Texas Tech.

BEST MALE ATHLETE

JAMIE: Jimmy Herget. A freshman All-American that Lelo will build around, one pointless sacrifice bunt at a time.

COLLIN: Jimmy Herget. Full Beast Mode Friday night starter... and he's a freshman. Kid is legit.

GARY: I'm going to do something completely unexpected and give it to the quarterback of the football team. B.J. Daniels really did keep USF in a lot of games, and deserved a better fate. People say he wasn't the greatest quarterback or this or that, but would you take him back for another season?

RYAN: B.J. Daniels. I'm serious. Nothing bothers me more than hearing mouthbreathers from other schools hate on Daniels or call him Reggie Ball 2.0 or something, because we would have been so, so much worse without him. B.J. gave 110% every game and got nothing out of it -- not a full season, not a major bowl game, not the Big East yardage record, and not the appreciation of the USF fanbase. He deserved all of that for his time here, but since I can't give it to him he'll have to settle for a Voodoo Five nomination for Best Male Athlete, which I personally think is cooler.

ANDREW: Andre Davis, he of the unstoppable performance against Nevada. He's our best receiving threat since what, Huey Whittaker? (Springstead High, holler!)

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE

(I should note that we all voted before Saturday, so no one mentioned Courtney Anderson before she finished second in the high jump at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships. I think this is the best individual performance by any USF athlete at a championship event since Tara Quinn finished second in the 10,000 meters in 2002.)

JAMIE: I feel like we should give Lindsey Richardson this one for being so relatively unsung. She doesn't have the name recognition, but she was just as good as Sara Nevins this year, and she got USF out of plenty of jams.

COLLIN: Sara Nevins. Had a rough NCAA regional, but we'd never be there without her. And pitcher in softball is the most important position in team sports, even bigger than quarterback in football.

GARY: We should just rename this the Sara Nevins award. Honorable mention to Andrea Smith.

RYAN: I tried to think of a reason not to give this to Sara Nevins. I got nothing.

ANDREW: Sara Nevins. This is the boss' spot until she graduates.

MOST SURPRISING TEAM

JAMIE: Lots of negative surprises (more on that later), but men's golf had a strong case as the best team on campus this year. Chris Malloy got that program straightened out in a hurry.

COLLIN: Men's golf. Didn't see it coming, and great job by them. They all come back too I think.

GARY: Men's golf was one stroke away from playing for the national championship.

RYAN: Men's golf is probably the right call here, but I have to go with women's basketball again. The run at the end of the season came out of nowhere. It was a pleasure watching them play this season.

ANDREW: Men's golf. We should really have a good team each year given our location and facilities, and I think this is a program that will flourish in the new conference.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM

JAMIE: The only two sports anyone really cares about (except us!) were both disasters. USF had one of the worst combined football/men's basketball performances in Big East history.

COLLIN: Football. This was supposed to be our up year with all those "talented" seniors. Eat a dick, Skip.

GARY: Football was a mess, men's basketball failed to build on an NCAA season, baseball flirted with success but wasted every opportunity. I don't like to apply this label to teams that won post-season games, but even softball and men's soccer were a little disappointing in light of how much better they could have been.

RYAN: Football. I don't want to expand on this. There were thousands of disappointing USF things this year and football was the worst and most disappointing of them all. Blah.

ANDREW: Men's basketball. I figured they wouldn't be as good as last year, but at least an NIT invite should have been expected. This team was B-A-D.